Headphones Time Machine

Ugh...cant tell you guys how much I wanna go back in time and just keep my headphones low all along. Such a simple fix if I could just break the time barrier.

 

That and lottery numbers...time barriers suck

 

Yes they do. Was your T self inflicted as well?

 

It's hard to say, but I think I could have avoided it if I was more carefull, but what's done is done unfortunately.

 

fuck its pissing me off because I was never warned about tinnitus. Why isn't there any awarness around this condition? what the fuck is the point of going to school when you dont learn about life destroying parasite like this?

i will never forgive myself for this..

 

Hi dubbyman. How do you know it was the headphones? Were you on any meds or had been on any around the time that you got T that could have weakened your ears to noise?

I'm not saying headphone use and exposure to noise can't cause T but there are a lot of people that abuse the shit out of their ears with sound and have perfect hearing. I have friends that that play in bands at incredible volumes with no ear protection for the last 25 years now with no T, it's not always noise that causes T. I had no issue with a ton of noise either, my T was caused by barotrauma and meds.

 

^^ Yup. I spent years working with loud heavy machinery, DJing, using loud headphones and going to gigs with little effect. I went to a gig after a break from going to gigs and bang, I had permanent T. The only difference was I was in the middle of pretty much the most stressful time of my life so far. I don't think the noise is every part of it, I was with 5 friends at that gig, we all stood together. Not one of them has had any issues. I knew the risks, and had bought ear plugs, I just forgot 'em that night! We still attend gigs together, they without plugs and me with. They still have no issues, I have warned them but it's their choice in the end.

Anyway, the point of my ramble is to say somehow you have to find a way to make peace with yourself, it will help your mind and perception of T no end. It took me a while, and I had a massive spike a few months after the intial incident, when at a wedding disco where I didn't use as much protection as I should have. It's happened, I'm afraid. Best thing you can do is try to stop it getting any worse. That isn't as always as easy as it sounds. It's only when you have T you realise how much noise there is just in normal life! Suddenly noise that would have washed over you before becomes a problem. Chin up, life goes on I'm afraid.

 

Telis Wow that is crazy that they have no damage from all that. Everyone is different I guess.
It could be a number of things or a combination that caused my T the more I look at it. I have been on and off vicodin for many years and came down with anxiety in late 2013, the same exact time I bought headphones so I started editing videos, watching movies and playing games at very high volumes all the while taking anti anxiety medication. All tho I take full responsibility for my reckless actions, I did not know about T or H at the time. I just thought hearing loss was hearing loss and ive always been hard of hearing somewhat anyways. Now that I look back on it, i think it was a deadly combo of ototoxic drugs and loud noise.

 

@Dubbyaman Did you get tinnitus right after being exposed to loud noise? mine came out of the blue one night, but i guess headphones is the only logical explanation, considering im not on any meds and the fact that im not dealing with any other issues/symptoms...

 

ceauses97 Yup...it happened right in the middle of a TV episode. I put my headphones on to watch TV then when it was over and all the sound was off, T was there. ugh

 

ceauses97 Im with you on the no awareness thing. Its complete bull shit that people seem to hide this condition.

 

Meh. The thing that caused my permanent increase was attended by my wife and a close friend (who also has some degree of T and has forever), they didn't wear plugs either, and they're fine. So, I think it's more a genetics/luck thing than anything else.

Sure, I'd love to go back and not go to that concert, but if I hadn't, I'm not convinced I wouldn't be in the same place I am now. More importantly, the question isn't useful, these thoughts are a waste of time for me. The world is what it is. My body is what it is.

 

Well that's the thing man, everyone says look to the noise, I say look to the drugs. Would you have got tinnitus if you weren't on the drugs? I don't know, somehow I doubt it, just my opinion. Just because noise triggered your tinnitus doesn't necessarily mean that it was the noise to blame. Almost everyone that I speak to with acoustic trama was on a med or had a history of medication use.

 

@Telis Interesting. I myself has also a very long medical history. I know for fact Cytotoxicity can cause tinnitus (which i was threated with). But the doctors I have been visitin doubt it should have an impact on my life 4 years after treatment. I'm not sure if I fully agree, why else would I randomly wake up one night with tinnitus? Maybe it is relevant, its either that, or my headphones...

 

Shuffle I'm just wondering you said the gig you had that you didn't protect your ears as much as you should. What decibel reduction ear plugs were you wearing?

I also DJ and my T got worse DJ'ing a party with 15 db filters in. But I was DJ 'ing for 7 hours. My decibel reader battery died in the 1st minute. Now I have to deal with it.

 

Going back would not help me, I have no Idea what triggered my onset of T.
As I have no Idea what triggered my increase in November 2015, it kinda sucks. I want to know ;/

Maybe If I could go back I would go to China and become a Monk. But maybe the gongs would give me T then.

 

Go forwards in time and ask Seven of Nine for some nano probes to fix our problems.
My T definitely is because of noise damage

 

I always listened to music at a low to normal volume, I wore earplugs in noisy work environments. I would relax in silence and drive around without the radio on most of the time. Then it took one stupid act by a co-woerker that has made my life a living hell. I'm not even angry, I'm just devastated. I wish I had never taken the job, it was much lower pay than I used to make but I needed a job. I was afraid of taking such a big pay cut would submarine my career, instead it's submarined my life.

 

@Alue
Same here, bro. Always took care of my ears, after one of my friends warned me many years ago. He got T from playing the drums, so i vowed never to let that happen to me.
Got my T due to someone else's mistake, so i'll have to live with the consequences.
This being said, we must look towards the future and keep the faith. It's still early days and not unlikely that things will improve over the months to come. Count your small victories and treat yourself well, engage in physical activities and eat healthy.

 

You said you got yours from someone else's mistake and list Guitars, loud girls and guns. Was it a gunshot that set off your T?

 

Yep. For me too. Always been careful.
But I was not able to foresee the exploding exhaust. Not my doing! It only needed milliseconds to damage my hearing.
I will never forget the date.
A hearing system is so delicate. It still gives me the shivers if I think about the brute force my hearing was exposed to.
I try not to think about it too much. You can't turn back time.

 

I know you don't try to think about it too much, but if you don't mind me asking, did the engine backfire happen in small space (garage)?

 

@Alue
Well, i used to play in bands and go out quite a lot in my twenties and early thirties, no doubt this had some impact on my hearing. I always protected my ears with plugs though, and avoided overtly loud places and standing near speakers. Never had any problems in the past.
But it was a gunshot in an enclosed space that set off my T three months ago. And it wasn't me who pulled the trigger either. So we're in the same boat.
To give you some hope and solace., not all (my) days are bad, yesterday was a fairly good one. Today i felt like shit, but just did a small workout and feel somewhat better.
Do you have any significant hearing loss after the accident?

 

Never had significant hearing loss after the event, my hearing felt a little 'shocked' and I was very sensitive the day later, but my thresholds did not shift much. I suspect I may have some in the high frequency range where my tinnitus is. I don't know if that's a good sign that I didn't have significant hearing loss after the event, but the tinnitus is till there and loud nonetheless.

There has been research that has shown you can have significant damage done to high threshold auditory nerves while still having normal hearing threshold on an audiogram. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2812055/ is the study referencing this.

The enclosed space was similar to my incident. I think it makes it so much more damaging because it reverberates off the walls.

 

I'm sorry you're going through this and i'm not discounting the pain you are in by any means but at least you don't have the guilt weighing on you that you may have caused it yourself. There's no way you could of known that was going to occur.

 

On open space. Just one wall to reflect from 10-15 meters away. It was outside on a camping site. I was not really close to the bike. More than 6 meters. It was so nauseatingly loud that instinctively it made me extremely anxious. I knew something was dreadfully wrong. It was a truly traumatic experience which sometimes returns in my mind again.

In my case:
I wonder if it would have been better if I caused it myself. There is a frustration at the moment that I have someone else to blame. He was stupid enough to relentlessly hold on to the starter on a bike and keep feeding the engine with petrol, flooding it, starting, flooding, starting, etc.....Surprisingly strong battery the bike had. Now I am in a fight for some sort of "compensation". We all know that there is no compensation for T, H and NIHL. No money in the world can compensate for this, but my prospects for future jobs are diminished significantly. I am not sure if I can hold on to the job I am in at the moment. So I rather would have caused this myself.

 

I know that feeling...

 

Reinier Self inflicted or not, i'm sorry we all have this. I wish I could cure everyone and make this site obsolete.

 

Seems, no matter how we got this wretched monster, we're all in the same sinking boat, a thousand miles offshore, with sharks patiently awaiting dinner! }:-[

(Thought I'd cheer every body up some.)

 

Boat name is T.T Minnow